2009 Proton Persona MT 5 speed manual

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you can get at home. To read one of our road tests or launch reports, just select from the menu on the left. * Please note that prices quoted are those in effect at the time the vehicle was tested

2009 Proton Persona MT 5 speed manual

Exterior pic supplied by importerInterior pic by authorGiving customers what they want

Long, long ago John, my business school Marketing lecturer, had this to say: “Never be Product driven. Do not make a product only you believe is right and expect your customer to accept it. Find out what she wants and give it to her.”

This is a lesson still valid today, but overlooked by the former management of Proton Holdings Berhad in Malaysia. They missed the fact that buyers in their home country, where they hold a significant market share, preferred sedans. Proton offered only hatchbacks.

The result was that by the first quarter of fiscal 2007, the company was in serious financial trouble. The Persona, launched in August 2007, changed all that and by the first quarter of 2008 the company was back in the black.

The solution was simple. Proton took its popular Gen 2 and grafted on a capacious boot while extending the roofline to overcome criticism of limited rear headroom. They also updated the interior, immediately copied to the Gen 2, and reduced the price. The result was a full order book and a turnaround in the company’s fortunes. John would have said: “I told you so.”

The Persona (Gen 2 Persona in the UK and Malaysia) arrived in SA for the 2008 Johannesburg International Motor Show and was formally released to the public early in November.

Just one model is available here so far – the MT M-Line five speed manual with a 1597 cc inline four developing 82 kW and 148 Nm of torque. Standard kit includes power windows, climate control, single-disc radio/CD player, alloy wheels, two airbags, ABS brakes and reverse parking sensors, to mention only the highlights.

In the cockpit, the driver’s seat adjusts for height, while steering adjustment is up and down only. The dash is pleasant enough, with main instruments in three deeply cowled pods. The central control area is hard plastic, but thankfully not in the too-common cheap-looking bright silver. The fuel and temperature gauges look a little like aftermarket add-ons, incorporated into other instruments.

It is evident here and elsewhere that the Persona, while offering good value for money, has been built down to its price. There are some worthy competitors pegged a few thousand Rand on either side that would warrant consideration, too.

Accommodation in the back seat is OK for a small to medium car, with good headroom, but egress is hampered a bit by deep sills that can tangle with big feet.

First prize goes to the boot. We don’t have figures, but it’s BIG. In common with most others, it is extendable by tipping the rear seat backs, so the potential is enormous.

Out on the road, performance is about average for a naturally aspirated 1600. It holds its own in normal traffic, requiring only a change down to fourth to maintain decent progress up the steepest part of Key Ridge. You’re back in fifth well before the top though.

It can be driven economically without much effort. In just under 400 km of testing, split roughly two thirds “highway” to one third “city and aggro”, I averaged 7 litres per 100 according to the on board computer. Handling over our test course with twisty bits and rough tar with some dirt, was above average. It tracked truly, turned in nicely with good steering response and absorbed bumps well.

All in all, this is an attractive and competent car offering good value for money, while not slavishly following current design fashion. It’s well worth a look.

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport, so barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed by me is given my own personal evaluation and receives my first-hand seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.

Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to in order to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and visit to kick back and relax.

So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

Comments?

Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously. Contact me here